DEMOCRATIC Senate candidate John Fetterman's upbringing has been a recent focal point heading into the November 2022 elections.
Fetterman has received backlash in recent weeks over his affluent upbringing after criticizing Republican candidate Mehmet Oz for his wealth.
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Who are John Fetterman's parents?
John Fetterman is running as the candidate for the US Senate in Pennsylvania but as the election gets closer, the race has narrowed from Fetterman leading by five points in September to a 2.5-point lead.
The narrowing margin comes as Fetterman's background comes to the forefront, revealing he comes from a wealthy family.
His father, Karl, is the founder and owner of Kling Insurance in Pennsylvania and reportedly paid his son an annual salary of $54k, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
He received the salary starting in 2006 when he became mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania, and was reportedly making only $1,800 a year.
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Fetterman received this salary well into his late 40s, and in 2013, he bought an apartment from his sister for $1 six years after she bought it for $70k.
The democratic candidate grew up in York, Pennsylvania in what he has called a "cushy" environment.
His parents helped him through college, leaving him with zero student debt and an MBA from the University of Connecticut, and a Master's degree from Harvard University.
Although his parents provided Fetterman with advanced opportunities, he has openly spoken about his family's hardships as well.
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Fetterman's family did not come from money and posted a photograph on Twitter of his father and him in 1970, saying his father worked as a grocer at ShopRite.
He wrote about his father: "His Union helped keep our young family together and food on the table."
As he grew up, Fetterman seemed poised to take over his father's insurance business, but when his friend died in a car crash, he redirected his career path.
"I didn’t want to spend the rest of my professional career just making my own circ*mstances even better than they were,” Fetterman told the Harrisburg Patriot-News in 2015.
Fetterman has advocated for those less fortunate, joining Big Brothers Big Sisters, and founded his own nonprofit that is partially funded by his family.
The nonprofit, Braddock Redux, implemented a Free Store in 2013 that provides donated goods, affordable housing, and a youth-oriented community center.
Karl said in an interview with The Washington Post that he wasn't sure how much he donated to Braddock Redux over the years.
“Whatever support I provided was to make it possible for him to do this, and I really admired what we was doing,” he said.
Fetterman called his upbringing a "random lottery of birth," and said it gave him an easy path to where he is today.
"Through no hard work of my own, no due diligence or anything like that, I was born into a family that afforded me food, shelter, love, stability, acceptance, college and graduate school," he told the outlet.
"These are things every family should have, in theory, but so many families don't."
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What has he said about Mehmet Oz?
Criticism circulated after Fetterman made repeated comments about Oz's ability to understand and empathize with the working class.
Oz admitted he "legitimately owns two houses," but Business Insider reported he has eight other properties, according to campaign filings.
His properties range from a cattle farm in Florida to residences in Turkey, as well as several other properties across the United States.
Oz and his wife have lived in a 9k square foot home consisting of six bedrooms and eight bathrooms in Cliffside, New Jersey.
They have lived in the home for 20 years, and in 2020, Oz told PEOPLE: "We realized we needed a place where we could build what we wanted."
Fetterman has used Oz's properties throughout his campaign to discredit the Republican candidate.
In July, Fetterman accused Oz of filming in his New Jersey mansion, writing on Twitter: "Pro tip: Don't film an ad for your Pennsylvania Senate campaign from your mansion in New Jersey."
Democratic supporters have dismissed the accusations about Fetterman's upbringing, comparing him to Oz.
“This is a silly conversation that you can’t even have with somebody, and with a party, that doesn’t know a damn thing about the working class,” State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta told the Philadephia Inquirer.
He continued: “{Republicans} only know working people who are their employees."
Oz has responded to the accusations, saying in a debate on October 25, "The irony is that John Fetterman didn’t pay for his own house; he got it for $1.”
Why is his upbringing being criticized?
The clash between Fetterman and Oz has gained recognition from powerful republicans, including former President Donald Trump.
Trump, who has largely ignored reports that his financial advancement was due to his father, accused Fetterman of leeching off the system.
At a Pennsylvania rally in September, Trump accused Fetterman of being "a spoiled and entitled socialist loser who leeched off his parents' money."
Fetterman's communications director, Joe Calvello, responded to Trump's statement on Twitter.
"More and more lies from Trump and Dr. Oz; another day, but it's the same sh** from these two desperate and sad dudes," Calvello wrote.
As the Senate race tightens, Republicans have continued to lash out, and Republican strategist David Urban told the Philadelphia Inquirer: “John Fetterman is not who he seems to be. He is a sheep in wolf’s clothing."
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He added: “Nobody’s ever laid a glove on him.”
Speaking about his change in careers and his financial advancement, Fetterman told The New York Post: “I’m proud of my upbringing … I was on the path to be a successful businessman but I changed paths and have dedicated my life to fighting for forgotten communities.”
